The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 64 The arrival of Japanese support

The tragic scene in the central position of Xinkou was also witnessed by countless Japanese troops.

In Yongxing Village, the soldiers of the Di detachment had eaten and looked at the tragic scene of the central position in the melee. Although they did not say anything, many of them were secretly glad that their troops were not assigned. Go and attack the central position of Xinkou.

Many soldiers were even trembling and praying. In fact, the quality of individual soldiers of the Japanese army was indeed not bad, but it could not be that strong. Even many Japanese soldiers were far from receiving sufficient training.

The military service of the Japanese army is divided into five categories: active service, reserve service, reserve service, supplementary service, and national service. Japanese soldiers serving active service need to receive two years of formal training in the barracks. After the two-year active service period, they will be transferred to the reserve service. The reserve service period After serving, they will be transferred to the reserve service. During the reserve service, reserve service and national service period, the soldiers do not need to train in the military camp. They only need to report to the military camp once a year. During wartime, they will be drafted into the front line. Japanese soldiers who perform supplementary military service need to be in the military camp. Four months of short-term training in the barracks is sufficient.

In fact, due to years of insufficient funds for the Japanese army, it is impossible to maintain the training expenses for a large number of active soldiers. Therefore, it can only resort to the next best thing and increase the number of soldiers recruited for supplementary military service.

In the ten years from 1927 to 1937, a larger proportion of the active-duty troops of the Japanese army were supplementary soldiers who had only received four months of military training. The active-duty soldiers in the Japanese army who theoretically have the strongest combat effectiveness were actually active-duty soldiers. The problem is not small. Those active-duty soldiers who just joined the army in 1937 did not receive decent training, because after all, they went to the battlefield just after joining the army. Like the Japanese army currently fighting in Shanghai, many of the Japanese soldiers who had just joined the army in 37 were included in the establishment. Active-duty soldiers have not even received training in bayonet fighting.

The active-duty soldiers who have received good training are actually those who trained for more than a year in 1935 and 1936, and within two years of being stuck in active duty, they caught up with the soldiers who fought in the Sino-Japanese War.

However, the number of active-duty soldiers in these two years only accounted for less than [-]% of the total strength of the Japanese army. Apart from this group of people, the other soldiers were either active-duty soldiers who had just joined the army, or supplementary military service and reserve and reserve military service. Soldiers, supplementary military service soldiers, have only received four months of short-term military training. Those serving in reserve and reserve service, although they were active soldiers and received two years of complete military training, have lost their military training due to their long retirement time. Quality has also inevitably declined.

Can such soldiers be called well-trained?

The answer is obviously no, but an army composed of such soldiers caused heavy casualties to the Chinese army and was defeated steadily. Compared with the so-called quality of soldiers, what is actually more terrifying about the Japanese army is its perfect mobilization mechanism and war system.

Outside Yongxing Village, a long marching column slowly drove in. In the marching column, four of the latest Type 75 [-]mm mountain guns together with the gun carriage and ammunition cart were pulled into the village by tall Japanese horses. , the battle artillery unit, the observation squad, and the ammunition column are closely connected.

Behind them, there were several horse-drawn carts, carrying a large amount of engineering equipment. Dibu Jiagui looked at the long marching column and the latest 75mm mountain cannon, and felt a sense of peace in his heart. and calmness.

Compared with the 75mm Type 75 mountain guns equipped by the artillery squadron of the Di Detachment, the four Type [-] [-]mm mountain guns from the Independence Mountain Artillery Wing are much more advanced. This type of artillery condenses the technology of the French Schneider Company. The hydraulic-pneumatic composite retractor and leg-opening gun mount, the single-layer self-tightening gun barrel, and the horizontal slider breech designed by Germany's Kluber are among the most advanced technologies currently used by the Japanese Army. Mountain cannon.

Compared with some officers in the Japanese army who attach great importance to the spirit of Bushido and rely on the so-called spiritual combat power, Tsubuzaki is a very realistic officer. After the failure of the daytime assault, he immediately applied for reinforcements and reported truthfully. During the battle, I didn't care about the so-called face issue at all. If the infantry attack encountered difficulties, then it was time to seek fire support and never let the infantry take the lead!He will underestimate the enemy. Underestimating the enemy is a key reason for the failure of today's infantry attack, but he is not stupid.

Having such a commander is a blessing for the soldiers of the dike detachment.Tsubuzaki's request for support from the commander of the Huncheng No. 15 brigade was quickly approved. A Type 12 mountain artillery squadron was drawn from the attached Independent Mountain Artillery No. [-] Regiment and strengthened to the Tsutsumi detachment. , including blasting tubes, large-scale destruction shears and chimneys, and other required engineering equipment were also allocated at an extremely fast speed.

"Reporting to the commander, Commander Kakihara Isao of the Third Squadron of the Independence Mountain Artillery Regiment No. 12 has been ordered to lead the report and deliver the engineering equipment allocated by the brigade to your department. Please check it, sir!"

An artillery captain stood in front of Tsubukkaki and saluted loudly.

Tsubuzaki smiled and said: "Kakihara-kun, thank you for your hard work. I will rely on you for tomorrow's attack. The enemy's resistance is surprisingly tenacious!"

A trace of sadness appeared in Kakihara Ko's eyes: "Yes! Sir! The enemy's resistance is indeed very tenacious, and our artillery also suffered some losses. This morning, the mountain artillery observation post set up by the Independent Mountain Artillery No. 12 Regiment on the Weijiazhuang Highlands is in progress. During the observation operation, some damn Chinese infantry suddenly rushed onto the high ground, and the observation post was destroyed by these damn Chinese infantry. My good friend, the observation officer of the No. 12 Mountain Artillery Regiment, Major Maima Hasemura, also died for his country."

Tsubuzaki patted Kakihara Isao on the shoulder and said, "Then let's take revenge with artillery fire!"

After that, the two of them walked into the command post. Tsubuta Takaki began to introduce the day's battle situation to Kakihara Isao and the description of the Chinese army positions outside Yanzhuang by the returning infantry. After Kakihara Isao understood the general situation, he also had a rough understanding of the situation. It was judged that the biggest problem in the failure of the attack was that the infantry advanced rashly due to underestimating the enemy, did not do enough reconnaissance, did not conduct artillery cover according to the normal attack sequence, and did not have artillery fire to destroy obstacles and open pathways for the infantry, which ultimately led to the tragedy. .

However, with the artillery strength of the dike detachment, it is difficult to destroy obstacles or provide strong artillery support, because the artillery squadron of the dike detachment is only equipped with the Type [-] infantry cannon and the regiment type [-] type mountain gun (relatively As for the mountain gun models equipped for artillery (the gun mount is older and the range is shorter), it cannot cause large-scale effective artillery damage. Infantry guns and wing guns equipped by infantry are generally used for direct-aiming shooting during assaults. If they really want to destroy the shooting , to form artillery suppression, we still need our own new mountain cannon.

"The overall situation is like this. The goal that artillery needs to achieve is to open at least two pathways for infantry assault in the obstacle area laid by the enemy. After our infantry breaks into the enemy's position, we can extend the firepower and strive to defeat the enemy and defeat them. After occupying the enemy's position, break into Yanzhuang in one fell swoop!"

After Tsubuzaki finished speaking, Kakihara Kokatsu saluted, accepted the order, and then expressed his opinion: "Sir, it is the duty of our artillery to open up passages and cover the infantry. However, the terrain around here is flat, and the artillery defense is The columns and the establishment of the observation post require cover, and I hope the commander can send infantry for protection."

Tsubuzaki nodded: "This is as it should be. I will send some infantry to protect the artillery. If necessary, our unit also has armored vehicles and attached combat vehicles that can provide cover for the artillery. Specific infantry and artillery coordination, as well as Kakihara-kun needs to negotiate with the captain of my main attacking infantry squadron. In short, please leave it to the artillery!"

Ko Kakihara quickly saluted and replied: "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)